Dye Results

I was busy yesterday dyeing some yarn. I had some new things to dye with and was curious as to what the results would be. This is a photo of the results. Furthest left is Marigolds. Next is a mushroom called Dryad's Saddle (Polyporous Squamosus) over-dyed with Sumac. The lightest yarn is Dryad's Saddle alone. The one on the right was dyed with just Sumac. All the yarn was pre-mordanted in 8% alum. The Marigold had an iron after bath.

I had some Marigolds in my freezer that I had been collecting over the summer. I collected the flower heads, including the calyx. The Marigolds were the mid-sized plants with 3" orange flowers. I put the frozen flower heads in a dye pot and covered them with water. I boiled them for about 45 minutes. I then let them steep until cool enough to work with and strained the liquid, added a bit more water to the pot to accommodate the wool so it could move freely. I brought the pot to a low simmer and held it there for about 45 minutes. As I periodically checked the dye bath and wool for color I noticed some green developing. I decided to try to enhance this by making an iron solution to add to an after bath. I created the iron solution be soaking some rusty nails in a container of 2:1 white vinegar and water. I added a small amount if this to the dye bath and let it cool. The color change was significant.

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Next, I strained the liquid from the Dryad's Saddle. This had been soaking for a number of days in water with 1/2 cup of ammonia added. It was a fairly dark liquid.

I was hoping for more color, but was not unhappy with the light ecru color I obtained.
(Third from the left above).

I then filled a pot  half full with sumac cones. The ones that I used were bright red and sticky.

I covered them with water and boiled this for an hour. I cooled the liquid and strained it through several layers of cheese cloth. I simmered some wool from the mushroom bath to overdue it. I also added freshly mordanted white wool. There was a difference in the depth of color between the over dyed yarn and the yarn dyed in just sumac. (Second and fourth from the left above).

All in all, I am happy with the results that I got. I will definitely use these again for dyeing.

Stashing

I have been unable to do much dyeing or spinning this summer because of my knee surgery, but that hasn't stopped me from 'stashing' for the winter! This is some of the fiber I have gathered. There is a bag of white and silver llama, a couple pounds of Merino, some rag wool, and also some silver-grey Shetland. I am getting so anxious to spin!

I have been steeping this mushroom in water and a bit of ammonia for about four days. The mushroom was given to me by a friend. It is about a foot across. It is called a 'Dryad's Saddle', or a Polyporous Squamosus (see previous post). A lot of color has developed in the liquid so I think it is time to try it out.

Today a friend, Linda, and I went foraging. We found some goldenrod. We also gathered a few ears of dried corn for the squirrels. We found some beautiful Sumac.

 We found about three bags full, careful not to take too many from any one place. Some of the reddest, stickiest ones I will save for 'tea'. The rest I will use for dyeing.  Add these new finds to what is already stashed in the freezer and I should be busy for a while! 

I have also been working on a pattern for some fingerless mitts that will be available soon in the My Patterns page of this website.